July 24, 2009
The C.I.A. Services Seminar Series
We are very pleased to announce our 2009/2010 seminars for Board members and volunteers in our communities. This is the seventh year of our seminar series and we continue to receive very positive feedback on the content and presentation. Our goal is to provide timely and convenient educational opportunities to help you with your duties. Here is the line up:
v Board Member Orientation
v Advanced Topics for Board Members
v Understanding Collections & Financial Reports
v Practical Deed Restriction Management
v Essentials of Architectural Control
v Facilities, Contracts & Maintenance
v The Super-Budgeting Process
Seminar descriptions and schedules are attached and posted on the Library page of our web site. Each seminar begins at 6:00 p.m. and lasts two hours. We provide deli sandwiches so you won’t have to rush home for dinner before the seminars. The Board Member Orientation session is free! The others have a $25 fee to defray the cost of training materials and refreshments. The knowledge and insight you will gain will be well worth your time.
Space is limited and advance registration is required. To register, please call 713-981-9000 or send an email to seminars@ciaservices.com. For your convenience, we’ll invoice your Association for the seminar fee, if any, when you register.
We can also provide private seminars at your location. A private seminar allows us to customize our examples and solutions for your community. We need a minimum of five participants and you provide the location and refreshments. All private seminars are $35 per person. Please call to set up a private seminar.
We’re excited about offering this training opportunity and hope you are able to attend some of the upcoming seminars. Please feel free to call if you have any questions, comments or suggestions.
Ralph A. Troiano
President
C.I.A. Services Seminar Series
Seminar Descriptions
v Board Member Orientation
(2 hours – free – April & October)
This seminar is a must for all new Board members and a great refresher for seasoned veterans. It will help you get up to speed quickly by understanding your responsibilities and authorities. We’ll review each of the documents that govern the way you do business. We’ll give you an overview of the governing documents, basis of authority, conduct of meetings, elections, collections, deed restrictions, architectural control and many other important topics.
v Advanced Topics for Board Members
(2 hours – $25 – June)
After you’ve been on the Board a few months or a few years, you realize that some things are pretty complicated. This seminar has a heavy legal and legislative orientation. We’ll dissect the lawsuit process, review foreclosures and bankruptcies, and discuss significant portions of the Texas Property Code and federal law. After all the legal stuff, we’ll touch on aspects of “risk management” which includes insurance, reserves and budgeting concepts.
v Understanding Collections & Financial Reports
(2 hours – $25 – February)
The first half of this seminar will cover all the steps involved in successful assessment collections. Since not everyone pays on time, we’ll get into late fees, liens, payment plans, bankruptcy and all the legal remedies. The second half of the seminar deals with reading and understanding your financial reports. We’ll trace the flow of money throughout the reports so you’ll never be in the dark when staring at all those numbers.
v Practical Deed Restriction Management
(2 hours – $25 – March)
Deed restriction management is one of the most difficult tasks handled by homeowners associations because it involves subjective decisions, homeowner’s property and emotions. This seminar covers the steps in deed restriction management and how a process can contain “intelligence” and common sense. We discuss the relation between deed restrictions and architectural guidelines and give you examples of well crafted guidelines. Practical deed restriction management requires clear communications and reasonable requirements.
v Essentials of Architectural Control
(2 hours – $25 – May)
Your governing documents provide authority to regulate design and appearance of any construction, improvements or alterations within the community. This is a powerful authority with an obligation that it be used sensibly. This seminar will explain the range and limits of this authority, demonstrate the role of architectural guidelines, describe the interplay between deed restrictions issues and ACC issues, and touch on handling the tough ACC problems.
v Facilities, Contracts & Maintenance
(2 hours – $25 – November)
If you don’t know the difference between a vacuum breaker and a vacuum head and you’re not comfortable wandering around a swimming pool pump room, then this seminar is for you. We’ll review your major facilities and equipment including irrigation systems, pool mechanical equipment, gate operators and explain how they work (and fail). We’ll move onto the essentials of bidding major contracts. When we’re finished, you’ll be talking like a skilled contractor!
v The Super-Budgeting Process
(2 hours – $25 – August & September)
“Super-Budgeting” is our term for preparing a comprehensive long term budget and business plan. This isn’t something you do on the back of an envelope an hour before the budget meeting. We’ll break the process down into understandable components and show you how assets and reserves fit in the picture. We’ll start with a simple question that very few people can answer correctly: “How much money should our Association have in the bank?” By the end of the seminar, you’ll know the correct answer for your Association. This is a critical seminar to take before you start looking at budgets.
v Community Website Administrator Training
(1 hour – free – contact your branch office to schedule)
This is the required training course for certification as a Community Website Administrator (CWSA) on the C.I.A Services web site (www.ciaservices.com). As a CWSA you’ll be able to maintain the pages for your community. You’ll be able to create news flashes, update key personnel, add community information, display photos, conduct surveys and much more. Being a website administrator is very easy on www.ciaservices.com and you can do it from anywhere you have an internet connection.
C.I.A. Services Seminar Series
2009/2010 Schedule
|
|
Seminar |
Date |
Time |
Location |
|
1 |
The Super-Budgeting Process |
08/11/09 - Tuesday |
6 - 8 pm |
North |
|
2 |
The Super-Budgeting Process |
08/25/09 - Tuesday |
6 - 8 pm |
Southwest |
|
3 |
The Super-Budgeting Process |
09/17/09 – Thursday |
6 - 8 pm |
Southwest |
|
4 |
The Super-Budgeting Process |
09/23/09 - Wednesday |
6 - 8 pm |
North |
|
5 |
Board Member Orientation |
10/07/09 - Wednesday |
6 - 8 pm |
Southwest |
|
6 |
Board Member Orientation |
10/29/09 - Thursday |
6 - 8 pm |
North |
|
7 |
Facilities, Contracts & Maintenance |
11/09/09 – Monday |
6 - 8 pm |
North |
|
8 |
Facilities, Contracts & Maintenance |
11/18/09 – Wednesday |
6 - 8 pm |
Southwest |
|
9 |
Understanding Collections & Financial Reports |
02/03/10 – Wednesday |
6 - 8 pm |
North |
|
10 |
Understanding Collections & Financial Reports |
02/24/10 – Wednesday |
6 - 8 pm |
Southwest |
|
11 |
Practical Deed Restriction Management |
03/17/10 – Wednesday |
6 - 8 pm |
Southwest |
|
12 |
Practical Deed Restriction Management |
03/24/10 – Wednesday |
6 - 8 pm |
North |
|
13 |
Board Member Orientation |
04/14/10 – Wednesday |
6 - 8 pm |
Southwest |
|
14 |
Board Member Orientation |
04/29/10 – Thursday |
6 - 8 pm |
North |
|
15 |
Essential of Architectural Control |
05/10/10 - Monday |
6 - 8 pm |
Southwest |
|
16 |
Essential of Architectural Control |
05/20/10 - Thursday |
6 - 8 pm |
North |
|
17 |
Advanced Topics for Board Members |
06/14/10 – Monday |
6 - 8 pm |
Southwest |
|
18 |
Advanced Topics for Board Members |
06/24/10 – Thursday |
6 - 8 pm |
North |
Please register in advance by calling
our Southwest Office at 713-981-9000 or
send an email to seminars@ciaservices.com. Space is limited. Refreshments and
training materials are provided at each seminar.